Hope and Healing
“He took the child by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha Koum,’ which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise!’” (Mark 5:41).
An Impossible Task?
Hope is a beautiful virtue that is difficult to live out.
The current state of world affairs; past Church scandals and intense debates among the faithful; and the everyday hurt, pain, and rejection we all experience can make hope seem naïve and pointless.
Perhaps hope looks distant, out of reach, or impossible to embody in your current situation. You may be experiencing loss, sorrow, and suffering right now. Maybe it is a work situation, a family problem, or that one thing you keep praying about that God does not seem to be answering. “Fan(ing) the flame of hope that has been given to us,” as Pope Francis is inviting us to do in this Jubilee Year of Hope, sounds like an impossible task.
But God, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, makes the impossible task possible. God turns hopelessness, sorrow, and suffering into hope, joy, and peace. God is a restorer.
We see this again and again in sacred Scripture. God comes into situations that look hopeless and despairing and redeems them, bringing hope and healing in the most unexpected and perfect ways.
Jesus the Healer
The story of Jarius’ daughter and the hemorrhaging woman is a story of God redeeming a seemingly hopeless situation and restoring the identity of these two women as His beloved daughters. Jesus reveals His Father’s abundance of love and mercy for His children in these dark, despairing moments.
The two different events in St. Mark’s Gospel are related to one another: Both are about females who are miraculously healed. What’s more, the little girl is 12 years old, and the woman had suffered for 12 years.
Jarius looks for Jesus, the Teacher, because he believes that He can heal his dying daughter. The woman has heard of Jesus and believes that “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured” (Mark 5:28). Both are in immense suffering and pain—a father losing his child and a woman who has suffered sickness and rejection for over a decade. Neither can heal themselves; they both need Jesus to heal their pain and suffering. And both Jarius and the woman know that they need Jesus. They reach out with faith in the promise of Jesus’ healing.
Jesus heals the woman and brings Jarius’ daughter back from the dead, lavishing them with His love and mercy. After 12 years of suffering, pain, and rejection, the woman is physically healed and is brought back into community life and as a daughter of God, the Father. Jarius’ daughter is also brought back into community life, and in calling her “little girl,” Jesus is declaring that she is His Father’s.
Jesus the Restorer
Jesus not only heals; He restores. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that hope is the “confident expectation of divine blessing and the beatific vision of God” (2090). Jarius and the woman put their hope in the Lord and see His abundance. This jubilee year, we can have the same hope.
Healing, restoration, and redemption are not just things of the past. They are here, now. We can place our hope in the Lord, because He is faithful and keeps His promises. The Lord is healing, restoring, and redeeming today.
Our healing, restoration, and redemption may not happen in the time or manner we want. We may have long periods of suffering and sorrow, when it is easy to give in to despair and think God has forgotten us.
But our Lord is with us. We encounter Him in sacred Scripture, the Eucharist, and Reconciliation. He is working, moving, and speaking in our lives. He simply asks us to listen to Him, to place our hope in Him. He is faithful.
Jubilee is the faithfulness of God. Jubilee is hope in Jesus. Jubilee is that the promise will be fulfilled. We can cultivate hope by encountering the Father again and again in Scripture, the Eucharist, and Reconciliation. We can sing out in jubilee of the Father’s merciful love and goodness that He sent His Son to save us. We can shout in jubilee that the Lord is working, moving, and speaking right here and now.
This Lent, place your hope in the Lord and allow Him to take you by the hand and call you “little girl.” Shout out in jubilee that you are His beloved daughter.
Alexandra (Alex) Harrel resides in Irving, Texas. She is a new student affairs professional within the world of higher education. In her spare time, she loves reading, listening to podcasts, and spending time outdoors. Her favorite prayer is Hail, Holy Queen. You can follow her on Instagram at @2012alexandra.